The backup is AES 128bit encrypted as is the password, which means no simple download of some cheap password cracker software is going to help at all. Bottom line is if you cannot remember the password (you did not "lose" anything, you forgot it), your backup is useless to you.

I am having an IDENTICLE problem. Updated my software, required no password for backup. I disabled all of my passwords just a few weeks ago, but even the ones I was using aren't working. (I have over 600 pictures that are about to be gone, and I'm very angry about it.)

I firmly believe that this is a real problem and he hasnt just "forgotten" the password. I keep up with my stuff. I wouldn't forget something like this. (plus, I use one of 4 passwords for everything--NEVER had any exceptions even for my phone.) there is a glitch somewhere in the system.

How about the situation that one does not want to retrieve the backup but simply want to make a new backup without using a passwrd, i.e. getting rid of the backups that do contain a password and simply make a new backup without a password.

I am having a similar problem and can't recall the password, if any, I used. I think Apple should assist by letting us use our Admin password to disable the "Encrypt Backup" feature when users experience these kind of issues. We are all human and forget things and misplace things such as passwords or the paper we jot them down on. Even Steve Jobs admitted to making errors. This is a simple fix Apple engineers can make and release a small update to iTunes. It is up to them as to whether they do the right thing or not.

I would like to throw my hat in the ring on this. My friend is trying to restore a backup file with very important data on it. The problem is, she never added a password to encrypt her backups, but yet it's asking her for a password. She is very sharp and assures me, that she knows all her passwords, but in this case she never used or entered one and yet it asks her for password that as far as she is concerned does not exist. This is strange, I believe there is something going on with some of these backups. Hope there are some answers soon.

I agree with you 100%. My husband is the exact same way and doesn't ever not remember or write down passwords. He doesn't even remember creating one but if he did he would surely use a password that he typically uses. This is ridiculous and they do need to fix this immediately! I am beyond peeved as we are in a child custody battle and all of his text messages proving that his kids are with a highly unfit mother are GONE! *** are we supposed to do now? And HTF are we supposed to get this data back. This seems to be a probably with far too many people and I highly doubt that this many people would forget a password. Especially, seeing as almost everything is password enabled most people use the same passwords over and over again so that they don't run into this very situation!!!!!!!!

I would also like to say that APPLE needs to fix this problem. People keep saying that you should remember your passwords which is true but it should be made clear that you are setting up a password if they did at all. I just found out that the password to sync your iPhone is the first 4 digit passcode that you used to lock your phone. Yes, it's very stupid that they did this but I hope that this help future people with this problem.

While it is true that you cannot recover a lost password, I've discovered that you must have the iPhone plugged in via USB for the correct password to "take". If you try to type the password in while the iPhone is connected via wi-fi, it will not accept any password, even if it is the correct one. Hope this helps.

My problem was similar to this; I had restored my phone to an old point just to see what it was like and when I tried to restore it back to my most recent one it asked for a password. I put in any it could possibly be to no avail. On the summary page on itunes, I went down to the back up section and saw the "Encrypt iPhone backup" part was unchecked, so I checked it and entered a new password. I went to restore it and when asked for the password, I simply put in the password I just set it as and it worked. From my observation everything is back exactly how it was.

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